NAB’s low-profile CEO pick, Andrew Thorburn, surprises market

Andrew Thorburn
, the incoming chief executive of
National Australia Bank
, is described as an energetic banker able to motivate staff, but someone who has kept a low profile during his six years running NAB’s New ­Zealand ­operations.

It’s not the first time Mr Thorburn has filled outgoing boss Cameron Clyne’s shoes. Following a two-year stint at
St George
, he joined NAB in 2005 within months of Clyne, and eventually took over from Mr Clyne in the top job at the company’s
Bank of New Zealand
(BNZ) business in 2008.

Thorburn, who is a committed Christian, has been married to his wife, Kathryn, for 27 years, and has three children, aged 18, 21 and 23, at ­university. Born in Melbourne, ­Thorburn is a mad supporter of ­Essendon in the AFL. But when watching rugby union, he barracks for the All Blacks.

AFR
AFR

Thorburn, who also plays the drums, has been a banker for 27 years. Before assuming the NAB reins in New Zealand in 2008, he ran NAB’s retail bank in Australia for three years, after being hired by CEO John Stewart and Ahmed Fahour. It was a tough time for NAB’s retail operations, which lost market share after writing low-quality loans but Thorburn is credited with ­lifting ­performance.

Thorburn began his managerial career as a regional head of
ASB Bank
, owned by
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
, in Auckland in 1986, where he worked under
Ralph Norris
, who was running ASB at the time.

He studied an MBA at Durham University in the United Kingdom before Norris sent him to Sydney, where he worked at CBA under
Gail Kelly.
There, he won her respect by turning around the bank’s regional NSW operations. He also worked as head of CBA’s marketing communications division and was sent by Kelly to Western Australia, which had also been an underperformer. When Kelly moved to St George, she brought Thorburn across with her in 2002. But there was said to be a wedge driven between Kelly and Thorburn when he left for NAB, not long after a reorganisation of St George’s retail banking division.

While he had already defected to NAB, he was also in the running to take over from Kelly when she left St George to take the reins at Westpac.
Paul Fegan
became the chief executive of St George, but only briefly, as Westpac soon lobbed a bid for Australia’s then fifth largest bank.

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During his tenure in New Zealand with NAB, Thorburn has largely focused on keeping costs under control.

NAB chairman
Michael Chaney
pointed to Thorburn’s “superb job" building BNZ’s cash earnings by more than 40 per cent and “developing a strong leadership culture". But one analyst, who asked not to be identified, said Thorburn’s performance in New Zealand had been underwhelming, pointing to reduced margins in the business as it was forced to chase deposits to maintain its funding ratios.

During this time, he oversaw a lengthy tax dispute with New Zealand tax authorities along with the other big four banks over a series of highly profitable ‘‘repo’’ deals. It led to a combined settlement of $1.7 billion. The case exposed NAB to heavy write-downs at a time when it was battling rising bad debts and slowing credit growth following the global financial crisis.

Thorburn has also been responsible for NAB’s Asian and United States operations. Outside the bank, he has played a leading role in the Trans-Tasman Business Circle.

A banking insider noted Thorburn was viewed as a “safe pair of hands" and the best among the existing bench to take the top job. He is described as a ­people person and has less of a “mechanical style" than Clyne.

A former colleague said Thorburn introduced uniforms into NAB’s branch network and also instituted a new system of employee rewards and incentives.

After joining NAB, Thorburn told The Australian Financial Review he wanted to cut in half the number of ­customers per relationship manager.